The Member of Parliament for Keta, Hon. Kwame Dzudzorli Gakpey has announced plans are underway to establish a ‘garment and accessories making’ workshop in the constituency, as part of efforts to revamp the Kente business and boost other economic activities in the constituency.
The MP is collaborating with a non-profit foundation, Small Actions for Enterprise (SAFE GHANA), to establish the workshop.
The workshop is intended to serve as a hub for making clothing, bags, curtains, cushion covers, and purses, among others, using Kente and other local fabrics. These will all be sown according to high standards so they can be exported to European and American markets.
In furtherance of this laudable and destiny-changing initiative, some constituents have undergone a two-week pilot training to prepare them to work in the workshop. They were taken through basic sewing techniques by celebrated German clothing maker, Brigitte Pappe, to sharpen their skills so they can sew according to international standards. The participants had the privilege of using quality Anlo kente produced by Wordu Kente based in Anlo-Afiadenyigba for their training.
“I believe in the saying that it is better to show a man how to fish rather than to give him a fish,” Mr. Gakpey said when asked about the motivation behind the initiative.
Kente weaving is one of the major economic activities for the people of the region, especially in the southern part. But for some years now, the sector has been declining. The MP says the project was well thought through to revive the dying Kente industry in the entire Volta Region.
He explained the initiative will ensure that those constituents among the over 1000 young people under the MP’s apprenticeship programs in the area of dressmaking, would have the opportunity to get direct jobs.
Since he became MP for Keta just a little over two years ago, Mr. Gakpey has taken a number of initiatives aimed at creating jobs for the teeming unemployed youths in the constituency. His job creation policies focus on areas of agriculture and agribusiness, apprenticeship, entrepreneurship, tourism and sports.
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